Smoking is a widely practiced route of administration that involves the combustion of herbs in order to release active substances found in said herbs. The product of the combustion is then inhaled and absorbed through the lungs. Although many methods and mechanisms of smoking herbs currently exist, by far the most common is the cigarette. Cigarettes generally comprise a quantity of tobacco that is packed tightly into a cylindrical sealed rolling paper. One end of the cigarette is lit in order to combust the tobacco and release nicotine from the tobacco leaves. While tobacco cigarettes are most commonly smoked this way, many other loose herbs may be packed and rolled for consumption by smoking. Despite the prevalence of smoking, many health hazards and risks have become associated with the practice of consuming herbs by smoking. Modern medical studies have successfully linked a plethora of medical problems to smoking including many cancers, heart attacks/diseases, emphysema, infertility, and birth defects, among others. Many of these medical problems are caused by the toxic and carcinogenic products that are found in smoke. Several alternatives to rolling papers exist for smoking including pipes, hookahs, and bongs. However, the vast majority of these alternative methods of smoking still involve the combustion of herbs resulting in toxic and carcinogenic smoke. Vaporization is an alternative to burning that is generally regarded as a safer alternative, as a vaporizer extracts active ingredients form herbs without releasing the many toxins and carcinogens found in smoke. Although produced vapor still contains trace amounts of tar and noxious gases, the overall method is seen as a safer alternative to the full combustion of herbs. Despite the apparent lowered risk of vapor inhalation relative to smoke inhalation, a common practice is to alternate between the various methods of consuming herbs, often simply as a result of convenience. The present invention seeks to enhance and improve upon currently existing methods and accessories for consuming herbs.
The present invention is an improved and versatile heating chamber for electric vaporizers. The heating chamber comprises two independent hard anodized heating compartments. The hard anodized coating prevents heat damage to the heating compartments while facilitating cleaning. This is particularly important as the heating compartments are situated in direct contact with a heating element used to heat herbs. The hard anodized coating allows the heating compartments to retain heat to sufficiently heat herbs without damaging the compartments. A heating coil is positioned within a first heating compartment, along the bottom surface of the first heating compartment. A second heating compartment is nested within the first heating compartment such that the bottom surface of the second heating compartment comes into contact with the heat coil located within the first heating compartment. This arrangement of the two heating compartments provides users with two primary configurations for consuming herbs placed within the compartments. Herbs placed into the first compartment come into direct contact with the heating coil. As a result, the herbs are combusted and smoke containing active substances is released for consumption. In this first configuration, the second heating compartment is not needed and may be removed from the heating apparatus. Alternatively, in the second configuration, herbs are placed into the second heating compartment and the compartment is nested within the first heating compartment. The bottom surface of the second heating compartment is conductively heated by the heating coil and the herbs release vaporized active substances for consumption. In both the first configuration and the second configuration, the produced smoke or vapor is then routed through the vaporizer for inhalation by a user.